A vinegars "grain" is a number used to specify its acetic content. Grain is 10 times the percent of acetic acid present. For example, all Heinz® bottled vinegars are at least 50 grains, which means they contain at least 5 percent acetic acid and are called 5 percent vinegars. It's important that vinegars are 5 percent, because this amount of acetic acid is necessary for safe and efficient food preservation and household use.

Ninety percent of American Households buy vinegar. Consumers in the Pacific and mid-Atlantic states buy the most vinegar, perhaps because of the great interest in salad and gourmet cooking in metropolitan areas. During the lat summer (July- September), vinegar sales peak as consumers purchase gallons of vinegar for use in pickling and food preservation. The most popular food uses of vinegar are (1) salads (2) as a cooking ingredient and (3) for pickling and home canning.

If you handle vinegar properly, it is quite shelf stable. The shelf life can vary, however, depending on the type, container, packing method, storage and transportation. White distilled vinegars remain virtually unchanged for an almost indefinite period. Other vinegars may change over time, with respect to color and clarity. But the change is generally in appearance only, not taste.

Vinegars are filtered and pasteurized to make them sparkling clear. Better-quality aged wine, cider or malt vinegars are often left unfiltered and unpasteurized, in which case the bacteria will form at the top and sometimes sink to the bottom.

Heinz® Vinegar is low in calories and carbohydrates. A cup of Heinz® Apple Cider Vinegar has 34 calories, a trace of protein, no fat and 1.4 milligrams of iron. The most appreciated mineral in Apple Cider Vinegar is potassium, at 240 milligrams. Distilled White Vinegar has 36 milligrams of potassium.